Ancient African penguin fossils were discovered in South Africa and researchers now believe that as many as four species of the aquatic bird could have existed in the past, according to the findings published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Researchers uncovered the ancient fossils under rock and sediment excavated from a steel plant close to Cape Town, South Africa.
The specimens were also found with shark teeth as well as other fossils, aside from the 17 fragments of penguin bones-including backbones, breastbones, wings and legs.
And the bone fragments were determined to have come from extinct penguin species estimated to have lived anywhere from 10 to 12 million years ago.
This discovery predates what was thought to be the oldest penguin fossils by 5 to 7 million years.
And although researchers are not able to determine why these species became extinct, they did find that the ancient species of penguins fall under the same size spectrum of the penguins seen today.
Some scientists venture that decreasing sea levels and other environmental changes may be the reason that the ancient species died out.
As of now, there is only one species of penguin living in Africa--the black-footed penguin, also known as the jackass penguin known for its loud call that sounds like a donkey.
But the population of the black-footed penguin has significantly decreased by an estimated 80 percent in only the past 50 years--deeming the species endangered.
With the discovery of these ancient fossils, researchers now have an important piece to the puzzle of finding out why its ancestors became extinct.
"There's only one species left today, and it's up to us to keep it safe," said Daniel Thomas, the study's co-author.
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